90 minutes of incredible dusky cinematography, familial warmth, understated rebellion (Franco's Spain and Catholic rite are simply presented as is, without embellishment, as the two lead characters are drawn both from and to it), beautiful acting, and, towering over everything, the place we construct in our head as a means of escape...the South...

I'm in the process of watching all the films that have won the Palme D'Ors at Cannes. Been doing it for about a year and I'm only at 25. Starting to run out of films that have been released on DVD too...

one of the weirder and more confusing films I've ever seen that didn't involve time-travel/memory loss/memory erasion etc. Hard to classify but pretty good - if you liked In Bruges you'll find something to like in it and Walken and Farrell are really good

Second watching of Dredd, a few weeks after my second watching of The Dark Knight Rises. That, along with having to explain the plot to TDKR to my drunk mother on Christmas Day, destroyed the last of the straws I was clutching to- it's just not a good film. Dredd really puts it in contrast- sparse, dark but still comic, elements of satire without the clunky weight, not encumbered by ridiculous exposition. As far as the genre goes, Dredd is a genuinely great film.

You might be right about it being a grower though. There was something in it that was great (the atmosphere, Rutger Hauer etc) but I was underwhelmed overall. Didn't really feel like the film did very much. Like the whole thing could've been a sub-plot from another film or something.

It's also nearly silent. What's great about it is the sense of near-miss and of human unimportance- there's little dialogue but every rustle in the wind and bird call is cranked up really loud so even though there's two killings they become almost part of nature.

thought they were all good, surprised no-ones mentioned i am love. is on iplayer. wish i'd seen at the cinema, incredibly well shot and much better than expected in general. bbc 4 have been showing a foreign language movie most sunday nights.

So last night I watched Stand By Me - I'd somehow never seen it, 8/10 and Damsels in Distress - Really bad, tries so so hard to be quirky and fun but fails miserably. Not even Aubrey Plaza could save it 3/10

but that was with a group of mates on a dodgy vhs copy in 1984 & we werent really paying attention
second viewing on my own gave me a whole different experience
now have the 5 disc dvd box thing to watch all the diff versions on

Vibrations is a sublime film about a musisian who looses his hands after a guy in a digger rips them off for the lolz, after which he decends into a depresive state and ends up homeless because he's so bummed that he cant play guitar anymore. But he finds rave music and a nerd who makes him robo hands so he can play piano again. Oh yeah then they make him a whole robo outfit to go with it so he looks badass playing raves. Then somewhere along the line he gets revenge on the fucks that took his hands by playing music at them really loud...

the film irritated me quite a lot. i'm sure a lot of that is intentional (her sister) but there's something about a lot of current cinema with the minimal soundtracks and all the gravitas... there's so much self-importance in modern cinema; this film is hardly the only culprit and i think genre cinema is even worse off - i feel there's a pretension to so much of today's film making. everything wants to be an important work of art, to be more than entertainment. there are very few films that can stand up to that sort of scrutiny. every time there's an exterior of a barn with a soundtrack of crickets i just roll my eyes.

the film was unoriginal and seemed to be scared of doing anything that might categorise it as genre cinema. i spent the second half of the film hoping they'd track her down so that something unpredictable might happen. ambiguity for art's sake seems cowardly to me.

Hot Fuzz. First time I've seen it since the cinema, possibly the most Chekhov's guns in any film I've seen. Pretty sure there's not a single innocuous detail in the entire film. Didn't find it as funny as first time round, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

A rare example of a movie that got better and better and better the more it went on. To the extent where I'm obsessing over it now. I see very few films that create and sustain their own reality like this - I would even describe it as one of the few genuinely surrealistic American films of recent years. A gentler, more polite, more naively prone to snobbery yes perhaps but more compassionate reality, where the impossibility of all the characters - the nobly dumb fratboys, the perpetually self-possessed (even in despair) damsels, especially Violet, whose brazen, luminous impossibility is allowed to tear through the fabric of our given reality by that glorious ending. So yes - a film with no obligation to fulfil any logic but its own. Ten out of tap-dancing.

Spanish film about a man who stumbles back in time. probably the most bullet proof use of time travel I've seen in any piece of TV or film. really also enjoyed how the viewer largely shares Hector's confusion at the situation until one moment when it all becomes horribly clear. great stuff.

I thought it was good. BUT that bit where the bus driver grinds the gears, adding to the already sufficiently-high tension really ground my, well, y'know. And there were a couple too many 'Fuck you! Let's get a taco..." type zippy lines. Good though.
Also, I have no way of telling if Ben Affleck is a good actor or not. He's kind of the Ed O'Brien of acting.

kinda dull, was a little surprised. hopkins had a great few moments (the dinner party scene, oh mannnn) but it was all a little muddled and felt really really long. and the fuck was with gary oldman changing his accent every ten minutes?

interesting and kinda peculiar retelling of little red riding hood based on the story by angela carter. absolutely LOADS of symbolism, mainly to do with sex and that
..... not sure it was entirely successful tho

LA Confidential. Rewatched this after seeing the adverts for that rubbish looking Gangster Squad thing and thinking how much better LA Confidential was. Never noticed before that Simon Baker off The Mentalist has a really brief role as a gay actor who seduces the [spoiler] then gets [spoilered].

Inglorious Basterds. File under the same category as Heat (I don't know what that category's called, Heat's the only other film in it); good performances, good action but it's really slow and there's a full hour in the middle where absolutely nothing happens.

Wanderlust
Cockneys Vs Zombies
Electrick Children
Bridesmaids*
Sister
Dr No
The Lion King* (due to a particularly poor film selection on a BA flight)
I Wish
Life of Pi (3D)
One Upon a time in Anatolia
Marina Abramovich - The artist is present
Reservoir Dogs*
Project Nim
This is Not a Film
Leaving
The house I live in
The Impossible
Les Misreables
Gangster Squad
Django Unchained
The Sessions

Django Unchained (brilliant, really good)
Rear Window (don't know why I've never seen this before, recommended)
Spiderman 3 (utter, utter shit. I liked the previous Spiderman films (Spider-Men) but this was woeful. Can understand why they decided to start again. Going to dl The Amazing Spiderman or whatever the new one's called to compare them)

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA

seen this before, but had forgotten just how much fun it is. the music, especially <3, but obviously also the amazing stylised ultra violence.

#12 Panda! Go, Panda! (1972/73)

Two part proto-Ghibli film from Miyazaki and Takahata, released in Japan as two ~40 minute parts but the DVD had it as one thing so w/e. Not amazing but kinda charming and you can see a lot of their later output in it, the pandas in particular are REALLY similar to the Totoros in their design and mannerism.

The Mission. Trying to get back onto my Palme D'Or project seeing as I neglected it over Christmas, mostly due to not wanting to watch loads of dismal films. 1986's winner was a typically dour affair about Jeremy Irons and a thoroughly lost looking Robert De Niro building a mission. Also featuring a 10 minute sequence of Robert De Niro dragging a suit of armour up a mountain and a nice Morricone soundtrack.

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo

rare trip to the cinema here. absolutely loans of fun, even with the pretty drastic change in mood when DiCaprio appeared. not honestly sure I enjoyed it as much as the previously mentioned rewatching of Kill Bill Vol. 1, maybe it was a BIT long (although plenty happened and it never really dragged or anything). idk. Jamie Foxx on a horse!

The Terence Davies Trilogy- Children, Madonna & Child and Death & Transfiguration. Really excellent, semi-autobiographical all about the intrusive effects of religion and sexual normativity on one man through his life.

really amazing film, anyone who's ever watched/enjoyed/been intrigued by the wire or breaking bad should check this documentary out (David Simon is one of the main contributors) but my goodness its powerfully sad stuff.

Also half of Safety Not Guaranteed, probably won't bother with the 2nd half.

The Kids Are All Right
The Other Guys
Groundhog Day
Carnage
Syndromes and a Century
The Informant
Vicki Cristina Barcelona
Good Will Hunting
Hot Fuzz
LA Confidential
Inglorious Basterds
The 51st State
Shut Up and Play the Hits
Despicable Me
Doubt
The Mission
Wild at Heart

really really enjoyed this, but I'm a total sucker for wanky romance movies and i love linklater's dialogue when he gets all wordy. even made me not be morally opposed to vienna for a little bit. also, can be added to list of films that wouldn't work today, because at the train station they'd be all "cool, got your skype, chat l8er" which wouldn't be such a good ending really

#15 Trainspotting (1996)

seen before, obvs, but the first time since i moved to Edinburgh and probably the first time since I became an adult. even more fucked up than I remember it being. disappointed to find most of it was shot in Glasgow.

#16 Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004)

MOAR TARANTINO. not as much as the first one but then you gotta remember they're being viewed as a whole and the talky bits had to come in somewhere. and the bit with darryl hannah's eye, jeeeezzzz.

#17 Stripes (1981)

BILL MURRAY! Harold Ramis' hair! it was ok. i enjoyed it for the first two acts, but not the silly third one where they stole the truck. still, led to Ghostbusters, so I can't be too angry, y'know?

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight

Last Shop Standing
and I will watch Holy Motors today so i'm just going to put that on the list too already if you don't mind. Obviously you can reply to this if you think it's ridiculous. So, the list so far in full:

it reminded me of the kind of film from the 70s that takes ages to come out on DVD and you have to download shoddy VHS rips of. for a 70s film it'd be a 6.5/10 but for a film from now it's like a 7.5 or even an 8!

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan

Game of Death 2 is one of my favourite bad films of all time. Bruce Lee's coffin gets nicked at the funeral and his porn-addicted brother needs to go fetch it from the Tower of Death which is really underground.

what did you make of La Quattro volte? I thought some of it was quite beautiful but didn't really 'get' it, since I don't really know anything about pythagoras. was definitely not boring tho, that's an achievement I guess considering
quite liked the goats

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish

The Blind Side and Undefeated, had a post-Superbowl American Football film kick (which didn't extend to Remember the Titans [which I also really like even though I know it's rubbish]). Seen the Blind Side before, it's alright although a bit too made-for-TV. Undefeated was really good, a lovely story well told. Seemed slightly staged in parts but overall was an excellent documentary.

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish
Cherry Tree Lane
Knocked Up

manhattan
i guess it was pretty funny in places, but i don't think i was enamored with woody allen enough to really enjoy the indulgence of it.

hoop dreams
good, but it would have been nice to get some stats, JUST SOME. i don't need to see them make another layup, COME ON. but i'm half kidding, obviously that wasn't really the point and it was one of those films that left more of an impression on me after than it did during.

the big lebowski
yeah for real i'm 26 and watching this for the first time in 2013. it made me really want a white russian. also i kept thinking donny wasn't real, still kinda think he wasn't. i'll definitely be watching it again.

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish
Cherry Tree Lane
Knocked Up
I Give It A Year
Maniac

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish
Cherry Tree Lane
Knocked Up
I Give It A Year
Maniac
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Downloaded all the Romero zombie films as well after watching Night. Going to watch them in order. Dawn is one of my favourite films EVER so I'm looking forward to that. I've heard a lot about how awful the later ones are as well so perversely quite looking forward to seeing them.

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish
Cherry Tree Lane
Knocked Up
I Give It A Year
Maniac
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Groundhog Day
Lost Weekend

Was alright. Standard Judd Apatow-fare: some brilliant jokes, some funny jokes which won't be funny in 5 years as they're very much rooted in current pop culture, funny kids, cringeworthy sex scenes, a few awesome cameo's from actors (Lord Faarquad from Dexter Series 4, Nemo's dad from Drive) and Apatow's comedian mates (O'Dowd, Segal, McCarthy), some not so awesome cameo's from assorted musicians (Billy-Joel, Ryan Adams??) - unnecessarily long. It reminded me of Funny People a lot.

Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are likeable enough and funny enough to make it work though, and Judd Apatow's eldest daughter is cool. She's definitely gonna do well in the future.

Orphan on the telly, enjoyable crap.
Tinker Tailor via Netflix - ok but not a patch on the Alec Guinness tv mini series (don't really rate Gary Oldman as an actor to be honest).
Django Unchained at the cinema. Loved it.

I am not having that ending. did the financiers come on set and give Hitchcock the hurry-up? SHUT IT DOWN, THE MONEY'S GONE.

was that the palatable alternate ending for the unfirm?

"Frankly my dear, I love you, let's remarry!"

it was basically that. why didn't the guy in the appartment shank Grace Kelly? why the fuck did Jimmy Stewart not end up sprawled in the courtyard a guilty mess, rapt with torment, aghast, catatonic, rending his pyjama top from his frame in paroxysms of grief?

they were never married in the first place. whole film is about control and leeway within human relationships. final shot is perfect summation of this - it's a game played between stewart and kelly, a joyous, profound game. killer dude is almost a macguffin (or, by extension, an example of when relationships break down completely into murder)

if stewart or kelly ends up destroyed, then the whole game has ended, the movie has failed. can't believe i'm having to say this, c'mon dude

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish
Cherry Tree Lane
Knocked Up
I Give It A Year
Maniac
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Groundhog Day
Lost Weekend
The Awakening
Home Movie
Babycall
Crossfire

enjoy the fact that people can get away with making something that's obviously going to be ridiculously overblown and ridiculous and that most people will probably hate. like the fountain, which as far as i aware was generally regarded as utter shit, but i dug

it's a quote from The Simpsons, right? as if to suggest the ending felt like that senior-adjusted version Gone With The Wind.

I know they weren't married, I just felt that after all of that masterful tension, the creeping paranoia undermining the relationship-building back and forth, that Kelly was sure to end up the breaking point of the whole murder mystery.

it seemed to be inexorably headed for such an end, that all along Stewart's character really was losing his mind, and yet this sweeping Hollywood curtain call is what we get, a melodramatic denouement that indulges the love story and does away with any notion that when snooping on goings on from afar, especially whilst confined to a room, that things might not be as they seem, that the mind looks for patterns, jumps to the worst conclusions.

I felt tricked, watching from afar suspecting the spilling of blood when all along it was just an unusually-framed love story.

Holy Motors and Eternity and a Day. Holy Motors was very odd and I must admit I fell asleep for some of it. It looked very nice though, and Denis Lavant was pretty brilliant. Eternity and a Day was absolute magic, the first Angelopoulos film I've seen. Completely bowled over by the cinematography, score, Bruno Ganz and the dreamlike way in which it all came together.

Ulysses' Gaze. it was good, but kinda peculiar. I felt as though I was missing something, it kinda felt as though you needed an in depth knowledge of the history of the balkans (or some at least) to understand it properly

Berberian Sound Studio
Young Adult
The Untouchables
Compliance
disturbia
Bananas
Impossible
Murder My Sweet, Farewell My Lovely
Raw Meat
What Richard Did
Te Village
Frozen Land
Excision
Paranoid Park
Before Sunrise
Lantana
Der Amerikansche Soldat
Django Unchained
Radio Days
Chained
Last of Sheila
fermats Room
The Game
Sleuth
Lebanon
Miracle in Milan
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
13 Game of Death
To Live and Die in LA
El Metodo
The Birds
Flight
Orphan
The Weather Man
Man Who Knew Too Much
Catfish
Cherry Tree Lane
Knocked Up
I Give It A Year
Maniac
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Groundhog Day
Lost Weekend
The Awakening
Home Movie
Babycall
Crossfire
Uzumaki
Mama
Sleep Tight

AMAZING. not sure why i haven't seen this before. lauryn hill is such a badass.

punch drunk love
the first 30 minutes made me feel like i was about to have a panic attack. really fantastic film though, shame adam sandler's talent is so often wasted on terrible films. (funny people is an all time favourite of mine, though)

even in a screening with someone who needed it pointed out to them that what was happening onscreen was a flashback (how did this person even make it from their own front door to the cinema without walking into traffic?)

very stylised, lots of beautiful detail, reminded me a lot more of Lady Vengeance than any of Chan-Wook Park's other films even though it isn't really like it at all.
Glad to see that he hasn't "gone Hollywood" and that film has all the hallmarks that make his films so unique.

and it was AMAZING
everyone was acting beyond hysterical basically all the way through, camera spinning around everyone all the way through, tentacle sex, Sam Neill from Jurassic Park, confusion. Brillz. Never seen anything like it

you either buy into the stylised direction and acting and look of it all

or you don't

or you're a fucking moron who asks why one of the characters is doing something again only to have a friend point out that this is a flashback
seriously fucking hell
how hard is it to pay attention to film

Amazed that there were only 4 people in the cinema (including me and the gf). It's an incredily stylish film - some superb visuals: one particular shot of a hairbrush through Nicole Kidman's hair morphing into a field of long grass was exquisite. Don't go expecting a Hitchcockian masterpiece drien by a strong narrative though: style is foremost and that will probably alienate the multiplex crowd.

Stoker is just fantastic. Not a note wrong or a shot wasted. Mia Wasikowska is outstanding, but the rest of the cast are great too. When the credits came up, I just sat there thing "I wanna see that again."

it uses found footage perfectly in the sense that it serves a purpose. its all piece together like hidden media reports rather than just some fella filim nonsense. its the perfect horror mix in that it takes somethin outlandish but you feel 'what if it happened'. enjoyed it a lot

and melancholia, both of which I found dull and charmless, although the basic ideas were interesting. I think my dislike of art films like my dislike of the sixties and the French sense of humour stems from Godard, a tiresome little man.

Didn't understand why they didn't seem to care about making noise or wasting ammo. It was a nice idea, the whole rebuilding society thing, but not very well executed. Very odd film. Couldn't figure out when it was supposed to be set in relation to the previous films as well, because it felt like it was supposed to be 'the modern day', as in 2005 or whenever it came out, but the previous films were in the same vein, ie 'in the modern day' of the 1980s when they were released. So is this 20 years on? It's definitely not taking place at the same time, but for them to have rebuilt some semblance of normality it would have to be furhter in the future, but again surely they would have done more in 20 years? Weird, weird film

I want expecting owt so I was pleasantly surprised. The first one is really good, reminded me of Se7en in parts. The second was the torture porn I sort of expected from the first but it was still alright. Total Recall is on in a min, the Arnie one not the new one. Totally watching that.

I have seen There Will Be Blood (good, long though), Watchmen (ditto, followed it better having read the book since seeing it for the first time), The Hunger Games (not bad, I don't understand why it was advertised like it was Twilight or something though) and Empire Records (first time, believe it or not. Brilliant).

It was actually pretty good, in a 'this is a well made film' way. Didn't quite feel like you were in the hands of a master a la Jurassic Park or Jaws as it was competent rather than dazzling, but it had a nicely understated tone that meant the big alien machines were pretty scary and impressive.

*SPOILERS* The ending was bollocks (but the HG Wells ending IS bollocks anyway) but was made extra bollocks by the fact that his son had inexplicably survived and that his ex-wife was all happy and unscathed and well dressed and normal and still at home. I'd be surprised if Spielberg even bothers waiting for audience testing results to come back and just goes straight for the happiest ending possible. Prick. *END SPOILERS*

Warrior - The Tom Hardy MMA film. Enjoyable enough but man it was so cheesy.
Oil City Confidential - film about the band Dr Feelgood. Alreet
The Comedy - Tim Heidecker as a jaded vacant mid 30s Williamsburg hipster type. He was totally convincing as a horrible emotionally detached man. Not fun viewing. Grim. Great serious performance by Heidecker though. I bet someone like Limmy could pull off such a role also

Surprisingly good. Felt like it had the same feel as the original three Dead films, the tongue in cheek humour of Dawn, expanded on the same ideas as Day, if only Romero had never made Land and Diary this would be considered a good film. Dawn > Night > Day > Survival > Land > Diary.

shitting hell, utterly phenomenal. amazing - an assault of the senses - the music, the sound, the visuals. the visuals! literally amazing, the colour, the contrast with the monochrome. cinematography was ridiculous - and it's in 4:3! completely and utterly took advantage of this like nothing I've ever seen; uses the additional height constantly, and just every shot has so much depth. more 3D than any 3D film I'v seen. pretty sure it would be impossible to do what this film does in widescreen

and it's not as if it's a dull or hollow film, like so many 'art' films are (wrongly generally) accused of being - it's impressionistic, emotional, lyrical - calls itself a 'poetic drama' and that isn't far off

it was probably good but it made me feel really bad so idk. eric has a line that's like "i'm so happy to be here with all of my best friends" played with such terrible vitriol... man i hope people like that don't actually exist.

lockout
guy pearce is in some shite on the sly. space prison, president's daughter, ex-marine. joseph gilgun's in it though! i like him, it's cool that he's getting big film stuff.

how to train your dragon
watched this with my cousin's kids and my brother (who has some fingers missing) and they decided to make him prosthetics like the dragon has. nice movie, all the scottish people in the cast sounded like americans putting on scottish accents, which is weird.

O Brother, Where Are Thou? (still the best Coen brothers film by about 18 million lightyears)
Argo (solid 6.5/10, wouldn't ever bother re-watching or anything, but it was alright)
Jungle Book (three times)

So that takes the full year list up to:
Life of Pi
"Marnie"
Goldeneye
Argo
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Jungle Book x3

fell asleep during the laughing woman the other night. it was dubbed, though. though if it had subtitles i would have had to force myself to read them and therefore managed to stay awake throughout the rest of the film.

loads of corridors and big rooms in it. that's all i remember apart from her running about.

Really impressed, plot was a bit silly and finally see what the fuss is about Bane's Stephen Fry meets Darth Vader voice. Acting all around was brilliant, effects jaw dropping AGAIN but wished the ending hadn't been so rushed. Had a hell of a job to better the previous one though.

I really disagree. I think it's both a critique and celebration of modern pop culture. His films have always teetered between some kind of revulsion and yet fascination with subcultures.

I thought the endless shots of scantily clad debauchery was supposed to signal banality, the over-saturation of sexual imagery in modern culture. The way the scenes were shot and structured were far from sexy.

abcs of death. an anthology of 26 directors each doin a short horror based on a letter of the allphabet. ti wests, m, is so insultingly lazy. d is best. v is the most visionary. l is the most controversial but a bit dull. f is ludicrous. same for w. a b and c a re enjoyable. its far too long. ben wheatley does one

"Gags include a clairvoyant losing her virginity by riding a sleeping, but aroused, fellow passenger, and the semen flecks left on a cabin steward's face after he locks himself into a cramped bathroom cubicle with the captain."

I didn't even bother watching the end, I assume she dies or something. Watched American Beauty last night as well, great film. Also downloaded Goodfellas, seen most of it before but not the end. Might watch that now

I was a fan of the first one as well, and this one was basically a second half of a long movie, they set up in that. Maybe the first one is now getting more love for featuring respected people like Channing Tatum and Gordon-Levitt as well.

Properly nuts

-it's rare these days to see something that just goes over the top silly, rather than trying to be meaningful. Several WTF moments and ideas.
Brilliant action scenes - the ninjas in the mountains a particular highlight.
Bruce Willis turns up for a small role to a do a bit of Die Hard-ing, and looks like he enjoyed it more than the latest Die Hard.
Don't watch the trailer - best to see it without knowing anything, and then being amazed in the cinema about some of the more brilliantly jaw-dropping moments of silliness.

Got a lot of criticisms for it but... bollocks, it was really really good, wonderfully brave and really liked the subtle nods to the technical foibles of silent film and homages to Fritz Lang and Hitchcock's silent works.

Spinal Tap (at ATP) - always great
The Dark Knight - yeah, you've already got your opinion on this
Saboteur - not seen before, enjoyed it a lot
Once Upon A Time In The West - one of my favourite films, should be one of yours as well unless you've got shit taste

Full list:
Life of Pi
"Marnie"
Goldeneye
Argo
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Jungle Book x3
Twister
This Is Spinal Tap
The Dark Knight
Once Upon A Time In The West
Saboteur

I think my favourite recently was Silver Linings Playbook, which made me full of ALL THE FEELINGS. The New York Times documentary was really interesting. Be Kind Rewind was super fun. Argo was GREAT, historical inaccuracies schemaccuracies. Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies. I didn't much like the third new Neon Genesis Evangelion movie, because it departed entirely from the original series and what I loved about both the original and the remake series so far. Take Shelter was slow but brutal with the gloom. The Bay is about KILLER ISOPODS so will always hold a place in my heart.

Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies.
Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies.
Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies.
Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies.
Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies.
Juan of the Dead was super, as was Cockneys vs Zombies.
*malfunction*

Lost In Translation -- Just incredible. Perfect soundtrack. 10/10
Cloud Atlas -- Loved the book, this was equally ambitious and almost pulled it off. 8
The Beat That My Heart Skipped -- Good performances, a bit underwhelming. 6
The Graduate -- Fantastic, dips in the second half until a great ending. 7.5
Le Havre -- Warm, funny, intimate French film about old age and immigration. 8
The Third Man -- My girlfriend tried to get my into film noire. It worked. 8.5
All About My Mother -- My first Almodovar, very gritty but wonderful use of colour. 8
Skyfall -- I laughed when people said it was the best Bond film. They were right. 9
The Big Sleep -- Another great noire, bit less inventive though. 8
Shame -- Similar feel to Drive, without the violence. Loneliness. Empty brooding. 7
Howl's Moving Castle -- Ghibli can do no wrong, it seems. 8.5
Casablanca -- OK, so THAT'S why people go on about it. Genuinely perfect. 10/10
Mulholland Drive -- Successfully fucked with my mind, a bit wooly even for Lynch. 8.5
A Clockwork Orange -- Wayy too long, and a bit too overdone to be genuinely shocking. 7.5
Suddenly, Last Summer -- Not bad, I was quite tired. 6

Son of Rambow
Looking for Eric
Argo
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Mulholland Drive
Kagemusha
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Best Intentions
Milk
Tropic Thunder
The Master
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Drive
Byzantium
Populaire
Mud
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Michael
Amour
Behind the Candelabra
Take Shelter

Some of which I've seen before, but yeah. Going to watch Eraserhead today.

A fairly high 10/10, this one. I said the following things about it to the friend who recommended it to me:

"this great big whopping pagan goddess kerthunk to the jaw of all of the tyrannies built up during the last two millennia towards youth, women and harmony

especially amazed by some of the juxtapositions of shot. kinda Jodorowsky but more Romantic, less cynical. also a bit more plotted, although towards the end the convolutions of who's really whom spiral beautifully out of relevance - characters become symbolic presences and the web of lies can simply fall beneath Beauty"

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo yesterday at my parents' house. Yeah, it's fair to say the rape scene was pretty awkward. Just watched The Empire Strikes Back, or eager the last hour or so. Still one of my favourite films

That was pretty shit. Then I watched Attack The Block which is good. Tonight I've just watched Get Him To The Greek, which is really good, nice sort-of-sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Yeah it's nice

Raging Bull. I've gone in the wrong direction with Scorsese as I've seen him homaged, parodied and downright ripped off so many times that when I see the originals for the first time they just seem trite as I've actually seen it all before without realising. Kind of a shame.

Really feel good film, nothing groundbreaking or profound but just pleasant and well paced. Full of well fit burds. Ellen Page would be megafamous if she was taller and not so indie. Or is she already megafamous?

The Amazing Spiderman
The Blair Witch Project [for uni, really dull]
Pulp Fiction
The Witches [for uni. Meh, not as good as the book]
The Hunger [for uni, total shite]
Kill Bill Volume 1
Mean Girls [rewatch]
The Great Gatsby
Kill Bill Volume 2
Cruel Intentions [rewatch, though not one of my favourites]
Superbad [rewatch - realised how shit all of it apart from the McLovin/police bonding scenes are]
500 Days of Summer [rewatch - day after I got dumped, somewhat cathartic, lots of tears]
The Graduate [rewatch post-graduating. Totally empathise with Ben Braddock, though have not as of yet embarked on an affair with a married woman to deal with these feelings]
Submarine [rewatch]
Skyfall
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

They managed to take the most interesting rise and fall (and rise again) story of a company in history and turn it into a dull and contrived piece of rubbish. The most disappointed I've ever been from a movie.

Don't even get me started on how they managed to miss out the most iconic moments of Apple and Steve Jobs' life. Absolute trash, don't go and see it.

Statham looks for a cop killer with one of the Andy's from Hot Fuzz. That guy who plays Little Finger from Game of Thrones is in it and is fucking awful at acting and keeps getting his nips out. Actually, everyone acting in this was awful. Strangely, I still liked it cos of Staths.

Oslo, August 31st.
I really enjoyed this, some really great scenes. The scene at the cafe where the camera shifts to other subjects day to day routines and their ambitions was a great contrast to what Anders was experiencing. It felt like an honest depiction of what a drug user would experience when returning to the world he used to be familiar with after an addiction. The way the people he knew lost confidence in him was heartbreaking.

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil.
It's hard to find a good American comedy these days but I enjoyed this. Easy laughs and pokes fun at the horror genre without being anything as bad as the Scary Movie franchise.

muscle - gay-themed japanese s&m film about the pasolini-obsessed editor of a gay porn magazine (called muscle) trying to find his sadist ex-boyfriend so he can return his arm, which he chopped off with a katana and keeps pickled in a jar. really great.

videodrome - aesthetically it's my favourite cronenberg film but the story is actually really thin and watching it after the aforementioned hisayasu sato film made it feel a bit tamer than it usually feels.

l'eden et apres - alain robbe-grillet film. i love his work. it's the definition of pretentious french twaddle, but that really works for me. the bfi are issuing some of his films on dvd/blu-ray for the first time ever soon but i don't think this is one of them.

martyrs - i liked it more this time. it's very emotionally engaging at first and some of the shots are really affectingly nihilistic. it really creates a great fear-of-the-unknown. the final part of the film slows the pace down too much though, and there's something about the way the film is (right down to the marketing) that makes all the philosophical bataille stuff a bit difficult to take seriously; the ending is so immediate and hollywood (and not very good) and so it colours the whole film.

manhattan baby - really quick and cheap lucio fulci film that doesn't even have much in the way of blood. still fun though.

johnny guitar - i loved this. joan crawford's great. this film looks and feels perfect. i like nicholas ray films a lot.

the killing - the kubrick one. it's good but i don't think it's any better than any other film noir. there's some really powerful imagery here and the story is very strong, but i think kubrick's reputation makes most of his work a little underwhelming.

the BFI are definitely putting that out. it feels like it could be a godard film and it's quite playful at first but it gets heavier and heavier as it goes on, really great film. his work after the 1960s gets more and more confusing and obtuse, i feel like you need to ease yourself into it. his books are all pretty short so you can burn through them if you get into them. i think 'the voyeur' is a good starting point.

apparently the prop corpses in the morgue were ACTUAL REAL CORPSES. as were the rats that got set on fire :( once a sicilian man told me a story about growing up in a rat-infested slum and how he and his big brother poured petrol into the alley by his house, lit it and set dozens of rats on fire.

it's about a socially inept man with a menial job/loveless marriage/loudmouth kids in boom economy japan who regains his social confidence by gassing women, raping them in their sleep and then tidying their houses and making their breakfast. one of the women likes this. and despite all that the creepiest thing i can remember is when he's practicing his gassing on a frog and rubs the frog's fanny.

it is actually an intelligent political film with a lot of valid points about modern society...

Bloody hilarious, admittedly it's not for my age range but that's no excuse really.

Has anyone seen it, can you come and take the piss out of it with me?!

That bit where he has to kiss her to make her angry *cringe*
And why did they make the souls look like that if they were going to make a human full in love with it??? They should have just made it look like a ball of light, not something with sperm hanging off it.

Third time. The first couple of times I was like hmmm something missing but I was creased up laughing at it this time. It seems the key is a combination of exhaustion, a couple of beers and the company of an 8 year old. I definitely found it funnier than him though. He said he thought i was a bit silly. That scene near the end though where it goes from the barbershop quartet singing Smells Like Teen Spirit into the chickens singing Forget You is absolutely perfect though

Ken Loach's documentary about the founding of the welfare state. The interviews with the people around at the time are marvellous. The rest of the film is horrible, misrepresentative and potentially damaging.

Not recommended. Just further fuel to the fire for people like Raanraals who think all people on the political left are idiots.

World's End - really enjoyed it. A bit nostalgic if you grew up in a small town in the 90's.
The Wolverine - much better then the first. Still kinda predictable comic book fair but enjoyable all the same.
Kick Ass 2 - didn't like it as much as the first one. Some of it was pretty nasty.
Alan Partridge - Great fun.
Elysium - enoyable sci-fi romp.
Way Way Back - really liked it, love that kind of coming of age summer film.
Aint them bodies saints - nicely shot mood piece. Pleasant but not amazing.
Riddick - entertaining if silly b-movie. Like a filmed 2000Ad strip.
Filth - great central performaance, darker than expected and strange mix of tone. Is it just me or is Irvine Welsh really homophobic?
How I Live Now - Worried it might be Twilight... in the apocalypse but was pleasently suprised. Much darker then I thought it would be. I enojyed the kids hanging out before the war too, nicely shot. The war bit could have been developed a bit more but an enjoyable brit-sci a bit like a teen children of men.

Missed like the first half hour or something, It was very good though, I'm sure it would be excellent if I'd seen it all the way through. Intrigued as to how they've done a sequel, the story is pretty well wrapped up at the end.

Monster House. Actually went to the UK premiere of this a few years ago (or at least i think it was) at Bradford Animation Festival. Just as good now as it was then, recommended.

definitely had echoes of L'Avventura in there. also kinda interesting for me cuz I don't think I've seen any other Iranian films at all, and it's a nice counterpoint to the gungho imperialism of hollywood and Argo and the like

(p.s. I'm just a_schwarzenegger posting under a slight less shit name)

I really enjoyed this. Jamie Foxx and a wanna-be Bruce Willis racing round the white house in his vest sliding over tables, racing limos round the lawn and into swimming pools, token sassy child in peril. Great comedy touches too.

chocolate - pretty good thai martial arts film. takes awhile to get going but once it does, it's amazing. the last fight scene that takes place on the side of a building is brilliant

suspended step of the stalk/////eternity and a day - both brilliant angelopoulos films. beautiful stuff. he really has a way of making greece look like a totally depressing shithole

lair of the white worm - ken russell's demented bram stoker adaptation, with peter capaldi and hugh grant(!). never seen so many phallic symbols. and snake symbols. and snake-as-phallus symbols

bug - micheal shannon at his most over the top. really brilliant little film here, one of the best 'descent in madness' films i've seen in quite some time

mindhunters - unbelievably stupid crime film with val kilmer, christian slater and ll cool j. so entertaining though. so many great death scenes, nonsensical almost plot-twists and terrible dialogue

----midlights----
the liability - was very sceptical of this at first, but it picks up once tim roth turns up. it ended up as a pretty reasonable b movie crime thing, despite some bad choices and a bit of a lack of internal logic/consistency. also surprisingly excellently shot

the beekeeper - another angelopoulos film. even though it's, plotwise, almost exactly the same as eternity and a day, it's nowhere near as good. still alright though

devil's business - pretty good horror about 2 hitmen going to a job that turns out to be not quite what they expected. sounds a bit kill list from that description. ... not brilliant, but pretty interesting and mostly successful

survival of the dead - better than diary of the dead, still not amazing though. some really stupid shit happens. oh well. zombies.

------lowlights-----

the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover - load of shit tbh. really boring and michael gambon is unbearable. tons of worthless and meaningless production choices that help to create an air of insufferable and smug pretension. based on this and prospero's books, peter greenaway is a complete waste of time

oedipus rex - bit harsh to include this here, perhaps, as it had some decent aspects. but by gum it's dull. and seemed ultimately pointless. idk

before dawn - absolutely shit zombie movie made by some people from emmerdale. about as bad as it gets

dread - horror based on a clive barker story. pretty boring mostly.

-----can't believe i typed out all that, and still missed loads. hmmmm.

I'm not going to give up on him straight away. I'm still curious about a few of his films - esp the draughtman's contract and a zed and two noughts. what films of his are your favourites? what do you like about them?

it turns out the hit does the devil's business, one of the hit men gets consumed by an unseen evil, the other one dies as well I think. think the guy who organises it dies as well? there's also child with an unconvincing monster face

Well, cinema's a visual medium and I can't think of many filmmakers who have such a striking visual style. Most of his work is supposed to be like recreating pieces of art, that's why they all have this static, staged feel to them. I think the set design and cinematography is brilliant- is there many others who put such attention to detail in their work?

The cook...is probably his warmest and most conventional film. It feels like a classic tragedy. The score by Michael Nyman is brilliant as well.

Maybe try the Draughtsman's Contract, that's one of his better ones.

I can see why he rubs some people up the wrong way, with the mannerisms and the staginess of it all, but personally I think it's a breath of fresh air. Fucking love them.

I didn't think it was amazing, although I was watching a shoddy version on netflix.

I liked the Beekeeper more. There as some great scenes in this- like when he finds the kids in the warehouse-but a lot of it seemed almost like a parody of 'art cinema'. A poet wandering around making grandiose statements, reliving his youth through a young kid, stumbling into bleak wastelands, etc, etc.

I tried to watch the Suspended stalk film and gave up half way through, which is really rare for me. I just couldn't take another vague, meandering long take of someone walking around sullenly.

I don't know what the difference between Angelopolous and some other directors I love is, but it's there.

some good stuff (including that pretty weird sex scene), but didn't connect in the way that eternity and a day did.

landscapes in the mist is also really good. it's basically a coming of age story about two children attempting to go from greece to germany rather than an old man wondering around reflecting on his life and greek history.

profound desires of the gods - japanses epic about an engineer from tokyo visiting an island completely cut off from modern life. thought it was really, really excellent. there's incest, paganism, and some truly stunning shots. very peculiar film. reminded me of some herzog stuff, in its with nature, humanity, primitivism vs civilisation, and so on. the budget is pretty ridiculous for such an obviously noncommercial film. in fact, the story of the production is pretty bizarre generally. the entire cast and crew were stuck on an island with literally nothing to do for 18 months.

peeping tom - absolutely amazing 10/10 film. pretty much perfect, tbh. one of the most powerful studies of a serial killer I think I've ever seen. makes psycho look like hokum with about as much psychological depth and insight as the average disney film. the themes of voyeurism and the killer's obsession with cameras and filming (probably say something about filmmaking itself I imagine) etc are probably even more relevant now than ever given the prevalence of cameras these days. hmm

the blood on satan's claw - pretty good. liked it a lot. definitely one of the better 70s period horror things. not quite up there with the wicker man but yeah, pretty good

rasputin the mad monk - enjoyable for the first half hour, where it's mainly drinking and christopher lee having a blast. gets more boring when the political maneuverings and so on begin. still, reasonably entertaining. lee is pretty over-the-top

out of sight - entertaining clooney/soderbergh crime caper. think it might be the first of their numerous collaborations. there's not a huge amount to say. it's fun.

Ninety minutes of footage shot on a trawler. No dialogue. No real plot, other than a vague sense of chronology. Credits contain the species names of the fish. The audio is a fairly relentless wash of harsh sounds.

Brother survives fishing accident that killed all others on board. Struggles to find peace. Small local community largely marginalises him. Etc.

Well-paced. Tension levels handled well. Good characters. Spoilt only slightly by the unecessary literality of the last scene and a half (which aren't enough to undermine the rest of the film, they're just a bit superfluous after the heart-wrenching but unambiguous lead-in).

For Ellen - lovely film
My Brother The Devil - standard London crime fare, a bit better than usual due to there actually being a story
A Field In England - ughhh not as good as everyone says
Jingle All The Way - YESSSS
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia - cracking watch
Mysterious Skin - suprisingly good
Whiteout- SHIT

I actually saw it with a lot of the people I saw the original with seeing as we were all back for Christmas. All of the best jokes are essentially rehashes of or references to the original. They have a reasonable satire of Fox News going that they don't really follow through with and there's a truly awful running joke about their boss being a black woman. It's still much better than most comedies of its ilk but it's a 5/10 at best.